1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a disposable, reclosable lid having a closure tab for selectively closing a drink opening of the reclosable lid. More specifically, the invention relates to an apparatus and method for automatically assembling the closure tab to the lid.
2. Description of the Related Art
Disposable lids have long been used for closing the top of a beverage container, especially for beverages that are purchased “to go,” such as from a fast-food restaurant, for example. The disposable lids used with containers for heated drinks such as coffees and the like are often provided with a closure tab that the user can manipulate to selectively close a drink opening in the lid, thus permitting the user to drink the heated beverage when desired while otherwise keeping the drink opening closed to reduce the convective cooling of the beverage and reducing the spilling of the beverage as it moves in response to the user moving the cup.
Disposable lids of this nature are typically made by thermoforming a suitable plastic, such as High Impact Polystyrene (HIPS). The thermoforming process has the advantage of being able to produce high-quality, low-cost lids at high volumes as compared to other manufacturing techniques such as injection molding, which can make more complex shapes than thermoforming but generally has lower production rates and higher tooling costs.
For most thermoformed, reclosable lids, the tab closure is integrally formed as part of the cover, thus requiring the user to tear back the tab closure from the cover when initially opening the reclosable lid. Tear guides of some sort are normally formed on the lid to aid the user in tearing back the tab closure. After the tab closure is torn along the tear guides a discontinuity remains between the lid and the tab closure at the tear guides even when the tab closure is closed. The beverage can seep out through the discontinuity as the beverage is sloshed while the container is moved by the user, resulting in a suitable but imperfect seal.
Therefore, there is a desire to have a disposable, reclosable lid with the cost and production benefits of the thermoforming process while providing a better seal between the tab closure and the lid than is currently obtainable with thermoformed lids having an integral tab closure.